(18, CA, USA) Anonymous - Trusting Others
In my final year of high school, I had my sights set on completing the task that I had been striving towards for twelve years of my academic career: graduating high school and entering complete independence and adulthood. However, this steady cruise to the finish line came to a halt as I discovered the importance of who you surround yourself with and whom you decide to place your trust in. Within three months of the finish line and walking out on that sought-after graduation day, I would face one of the greatest hardships of my eighteen years of existence. My good friend, who had been dabbling in the recreational consumption of marijuana, conducted a transaction on a cold, foggy, west coast spring morning. He exchanged currency for a THC vape pen with the local plug right in front of the principal, starting a slow and methodical chase by the faculty to catch him red-handed. Noticing the urgency of his situation, my friend decided to dispose of the evidence.
In my second period sports science class, I was wrapping up an assignment when I received a text from him summarizing his predicament and requesting my assistance. He wanted to stash the THC cartridge in my motor vehicle so that he wouldn’t get caught with anything on him. From my class, I used my car's phone app to unlock the doors for him, freeing him of his troubles. I then returned to my studies, thinking little of it.
Later that day, after returning home from the gym at night, I found my mother and father extremely distressed by some news they had discovered through an email. The email, sent from my school's assistant principal, stated that I had been indefinitely suspended. I immediately began retracing my memories from the day, trying to understand the reason behind this. I learned that I had been suspected of being in possession of contraband, such as a cart.
The next day, I went to the office to get to the bottom of my indefinite suspension since my progression from high school had been paused. There, I learned that my friend, whom I had done a favor for by taking the blame for anything that could result from being in possession of a cart on school grounds, had confessed. Before he placed the cart in my vehicle, he had been suspiciously circling the parking lot, and the faculty had taken notice. What followed was a questioning by a police officer, during which he immediately folded. In an attempt to shift the blame from himself, he surrendered his phone and all the text messages we had exchanged during the incident. This provided the school with all the evidence they needed to expel me. Ultimately, both of us, along with the person who sold him the cart, were indefinitely suspended, which was the school's way of being lenient about an expulsion. This experience taught me the importance of considering whom you trust.
